Another great report on the Carolinas came at the other end of the 18th century, Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country… This is a 1791 first edition of William Bartram's report on his journey into America's southern settlements and Indian lands. Bartram embarked on a similar, though longer trip than Lawson's, recording data about the natural history and Indian tribes of the area. He is particularly noted for his sketches of over 200 newly discovered botanical specimens, including the Venus Fly Trap and the now extinct in the wild Franklin Tree, named for his friend Ben Franklin. The Franklin Tree survives only through seeds Bartram collected on his trip and brought back to Philadelphia. $45,000.

 

Here is one of the most important books about Gold Rush California, particularly its early days:  Eldorado, or, Adventures in the Path of Empire, by Bayard Taylor, published in 1850. Taylor was a newsman from New York who traveled to California not to find gold, but to report on the rush. He writes about the mining camps, California's constitutional convention, and other aspects of life at the time the state was being inundated with prospectors. $1,150.

 

The Arader Galleries are located in New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Denver, and San Francisco. The telephone number for the New York office is 212-628-3668. Their website is found at www.aradergalleries.com.